The Thing (2011)

It's not human. Yet.

When paleontologist Kate Lloyd travels to an isolated outpost in Antarctica for the expedition of a lifetime, she joins an international team that unearths a remarkable discovery. Their elation quickly turns to fear as they realize that their experiment has freed a mysterious being from its frozen prison. Paranoia spreads like an epidemic as a creature that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish in this spine-tingling thriller.

Directed by: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Written by: Eric Heisserer, John W. Campbell Jr.

Music by: Marco Beltrami

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Paul Braunstein, Trond Espen Seim, Kim Bubbs, Jørgen Langhelle, Jan Gunnar Røise

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Mystery

Released: 2011-10-12

Runtime: 103 minutes

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The Thing (2011): trivia & fun facts

Fun facts

• The Thing was David's first significant film role, and coming from a theater background, he had to learn on set how to hold himself back and not show every emotion his character was feeling, with guidance from Richard Masur and Donald Moffat in particular.
• Bill Lancaster initially met with Turman, Foster and Cohen in 1977, but he was given the impression that they wanted to closely replicate The Thing from Another World, and he did not want to remake the film.
• Universal initially set a budget of $10 million, with $200,000 for "creature effects", which at the time was more than the studio had ever allocated to a monster film.
• Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey first worked together on Halloween, and The Thing was their first big-budget project for a major film studio.
• While finalizing the film, Universal sent Carpenter a demographic study showing that the audience appeal of horror films had declined by seventy percent over the previous six months.
• In a 1999 interview, Carpenter said audiences rejected The Thing for its nihilistic, depressing viewpoint at a time when the United States was in the midst of a recession.
• The Thing also features Norbert Weisser as one of the Norwegians, and an uncredited dog, Jed, as the Dog-Thing.
• The producer, David Foster, associate producer, Larry Franco and writer, Bill Lancaster, along with other members of the crew, make a cameo appearance in a recovered photograph of the Norwegian team.
• Shortly after its release, Wilbur Stark sued Universal for $43 million for "slander, breach of contract, fraud and deceit", alleging he incurred a financial loss by Universal failing to credit him properly in its marketing and by showing his name during the end credits, a less prestigious position.
• Of the film's $15 million budget, $1.5 million was spent on Rob Bottin's creature effects, a mixture of chemicals, food products, rubber, and mechanical parts turned by his large team into an alien capable of taking on any form.
• David Foster responded that Stark was not involved with the film's production in any way, and received proper credit in all materials.
• A pinball table based on The Thing is featured in Pinball M (2023), including R. J. MacReady and various other elements from the film.
• Production began in the mid-1970s as a faithful adaptation of the novella, following 1951's The Thing from Another World.
• Filming lasted roughly 12 weeks, beginning in August 1981 and took place on refrigerated sets in Los Angeles as well as in Juneau, Alaska, and Stewart, British Columbia.
• Clennon was originally intended to be in the scene but, due to his shadow being easily identifiable, Carpenter decided to use Warlock instead.

Source: Wikipedia

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